Dejan Bogdanovic, born 7th, December 1963
Dejan Bogdanovic was born in Sarajevo in 1963 and showed an early interest in art. At the age of 5 he painted his first series of still lifes. His family was fortunate enough to be able to travel extensively during his childhood, as his father was an international chess champion. Dejan Bogdanovic could thus experience the international art scene at an early age.
From 1983 to 1988 he was an undergraduate student at the Academy of Fine Arts in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. He focused in his studies on paintings, sculptures, industrial design, anatomy and art history. At his university he was taught by Professor Radovan Tadic and Professor Ratko Lalic. During those years he took study trips to Paris, Moscow, Vienna, St. Petersburg, Budapest and Prague. In 1987 he was invited to the Art Colony of Pocitelj in Herzegovina. There he focused on painting directly from nature, especially landscapes since the Art Colony is set in a medieval Islamic town surrounded by beautiful nature.
After graduating from the Academy of Fine Art he chose to further his sculptural skills by designing and manufacturing hand made Madonna figures. These Madonna figures proved especially popular in Medugorie, an old pilgrimage destination in Yugoslavia. While honing his skills and learning more about the creative process of manufacturing sculptures, he was drawn to one of the earliest sources of sculptural art work in history and chose to travel to Egypt. Deeply impressed and inspired by the ancient Egyptians he returned to Sarajevo. In order to turn some of his new found visions into reality he collaborated with the architect Mr. Senad Alic. Together they created three innovative interior designs and the results of these projects can be seen in Sarajevo, Visoko and Cacak, Ex-Yugoslavia.
Sarajevo at that time was a place open to new ideas and international artistic influences. Working in this open, inspiring atmosphere allowed young artists like Dejan Bogdanovic to personally meet with internationally renowned artists such as the director Emir Kusturica, the composer Goran Bregovic, the “Nadrealisti” theatre company and the rock band “Rusija” for which he designed the record covers.
In 1989 he applied for an Italian scholarship for international applicants. This one-year scholarship had the added advantage of allowing the prospective student to choose a university freely and in 1991 after having successfully obtained the scholarship he decided to study at the “Studio Art Centers International “ SACI in Florence. After having finished his studies in 1992 he worked for 4 months as a guide in the Palazzo Pitti where one the most important exhibitions of Caravaggio was held at the time. In order to broaden his exposure to Italian art Dejan Bogdanovic went to Milan for 3 months where he focused on developing his painting techniques and where he also designed “Brassieres” and different shoes for the Milan fashion week.
Back in Florence he worked for the “Scorpione Club”. He designed the entire interior of the club. As a special treat he painted 5 life sized Botticelli frescos . Among these Botticelli frescos are the “Birth of Venus”, “Primavera” and “Venus and Mars”.
After this, his artistic development came to an unfortunate halt as civil war was raging in Yugoslavia. He was able to bring his mother to Florence who was caught in the beleaguered city of Sarajevo. The constant news coverage as well as the stories he heard from family members about the constant shelling of innocent civilian impeded his creativity and for the duration of the civil war he was not able to continue working as an artist. As the war continued in Yugoslavia he took up his interest in gastronomy and opened a bar right off the Piazza Duomo.
After the civil war ended in 1999 he and a fellow painter rented an art studio and Dejan returned to his artistic vision, creating new paintings and holding exhibitions there. In the year 2000 Dejan Bogdanovic shared a studio with Giuliano Gargani, called Garga, whose philosophical and artistic approach left a deep impression on Dejan’s own artistic vision. At the same time Dejan also managed a restaurant/club called ”Faces” for a year before opening the first fusion-cuisine restaurant “Picasso” in Florence. Within a very short time the restaurant became one of the hippest establishments in the city. Everything from the interior design to the presentation of the various dishes was the work of Dejan and he took great care to create a special atmosphere. Various paintings of his were also on display there.
After having dedicated 2 years of his time and energy to this place, he became the artistic director of the Restaurant “Golden View” where his paintings used to be on constant display for the past five years.
In 2004 he shared a studio with the American artist William Kelley in the Via Tornabuoni. In 2005 he worked in Rebecca Harps studio at Piazza Della Repubblica where he created most of his recent paintings which proved very popular with his international clients. Dejan Bogdanovic’s paintings can be found in private collections in the U.S.A, Australia, England, Scotland, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Serbia, Bosnia and Slovenia. The artist currently works at his studio in the heart of Florence. Some of his works are on display at the Restaurant “ Da i Boia”, just behind the Duomo.